Chinese Taipei claim gold medal at men’s volleyball tournament at East Asian Games

Chinese Taipei players celebrate after winning the gold medal

Tianjin, China, October 13,
2013 – Chinese Taipei defeated Japan in five sets to snag the gold medal in the two-hour
final of the men’s volleyball tournament of the East Asian Games at the Nankai University Sports Center here
on Sunday.

Earlier, Chinaalso delighted their supporters by producing a magnificent straight set 3-0
(25-14, 25-16, 25-23) win over Korea in the third-place playoff.

Gold Medal match
Chinese Taipei vs. Japan 3-2

Although Chinese Taipei started
slowly, they eventually pulled themselves together to take the match to a
thrilling tiebreaker 3-2 (20-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-18, 15-12) victory over Japan
in the gold match of the five-team tournament.

Spikers Dekita Takashi and
Chijiki Shunsuke led Japan to 8-6 in the first technical timeout
of the first set and then extended it to 16-12. They clinched the set 25-20 as
Chinese Taipei’s Huang Chien Feng spiked wide in the last point.

Both teams stepped up their
blocking efforts resulting in a more competitive second set, but Chinese Taipei
was able to rally from 10-12 to a two point lead at 21-19 and continued to stay
on top 25-21.

However, Chinese Taipei lost some
of their concentration in the third set, conceding a three point lead at 15-12
before lagging behind 17-19. Japan showed some great blocking
to take the edge. They were the better team in the conclusive moments of the
set to win it by 25-21.

Japan scored five of
the first seven points of the fourth set and went into the first technical
timeout leading 8-7. Chinese Taipei came back to tie the score at 12 before
grabbing a 16-13 lead at the second technical timeout. As Chinese Taipei
continued their assaults on Japan, the difference became 19-14. Chinese Taipei
closed it 25-18, forcing the match into the fifth set.

Encouraged by the fourth set win,
Chinese Taipei established their superiority in the tie-breaker, leading 10-6.
Though narrowing the difference to 12-10, Japan were unable to turn the tables,
as Wang Ming Chun’s two lightening back-court hits help Chinese Taipei for the
final 3-2 win.

Chinese
Taipei’s center Huang Chien Feng was the match star who
excelled with 26 killing points, including three blocks, to become the best
scorer of the final match. Three other players from Chinese Taipei also reached
double figures, with Wang Ming Feng at 19, followed by Lu Chiang Tao Chiang
(16) and Chuang Shao Chieh (13)

China started the match using
their serving power and blocking to conclude the job as quick as
possible. They completely dominated in the first and second set with a convincing
25-14 and 25-16 win. Only in the third set, Korea put up some
resistance, leading 16-14 in the second technical
timeout. The Koreans, however, committed errors in reception and
attacks when the scores were even at 22-22. China attacked very
well, allowing them to lead at the end of the set with a score of 25-23.

Xia Runtao was the best
scorer on the winning side with 16 points, followed by Tang
Chuanhang with 15 points while Moon Junghyun and Jeong
Donggeun led Korea's scorers with 13 and 10 points respectively.
The dominance for China in blocking (7-4)
and serving (3-1) was the key factor to end the match,
and Korea made 25 errors compared with China’s 14.